NUM Biennial report

Item

Title

NUM Biennial report

Creator

NUM

Date

1989

Description

Since the Fifth National Congress in 1987 where our union adopted the Freedom Charter and charted a clear political direction for the NUM, many gallant battles have been waged by the mineworkers on many fronts. 1987 was the year in which our union launched its campaign to effect control of miners working lives. It was a year when mineworkers took control indeed in keeping with the Fifth Congress Slogan -"1987 THE YEAR MINEWORKERS TAKE CONTROL", as many comrades began to take over the hostels, particularly in the Witbank Region which resulted in families moving into the hostels for a period of time. Although the process remained uneven, the initiative was an important indicator of the willingness of the workers to take action and implement resolutions adopted by our union. In spite of the existence of the State of Emergency, the dedication, commitment, spirit and enthusiasm of mineworkers remained high. 1987 was also the year in which the NUM made its mark on the mining industry with the historic Great Miners Strike. This action, involving over 340 000 workers was the biggest of its kind in South African Labour History, and also the biggest action by workers of its kind on the African continent. We challenged some of the fundamental policies of the mining industry, in particular, the concept of poverty wages which has become one of the major battle grounds for our union. Despite mass dismissals of 50 000 workers, our union has remained and continues to mobilise and organise mineworkers against the oppressive and exploitative conditions. 1987 will certainly go down in history as the year of mass action by mineworkers throughout South Africa. It is well known that the strike did affect our organisation in many areas. Actions by management to roll back the gains of our union continued unabated after the strike right through until now.

Subject

NUM

CheckCat

Format

pdf

Language

English

Type

text

Identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10962/149589

Archive

Cory Library for Humanitites Research

Provenance

The item is held at the Cory Library for Humanities Research, Rhodes University, on behalf of the Labour Research Service

Extent

61 pages

Rights

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)

Rights Holder

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)

Use/re-use

The materials are made available explicitly for research and educational purposes. Any use of these materials must be cleared with the Labour Research Service.

Publisher

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)

Item sets

General Materials

Media

vital_38866+SOURCE1+SOURCE1.0.pdf